Would you bother with built in Sat Nav?

Not sure why you wouldn’t glue something to the dash, you had your cars long enough and tbh I’m old enough to have had fitted phones in cars. Always left them in when changing to a new one.

But, compared to using a standalone phone a built-in beats it hands down, if only if it just means less worry of been caught fiddling with your phone by the police etc. Ours just works off the iDrive like everything else in the car.

What a crazy thread.

All this arguing over a satnav option in a car.

Thread asked why you’d use one over another and these are the answers. Some prefer one, some the other.

and some will defend their choice to the hilt on semantics.

I have used a Garmin Nuvi for years, but am getting a new car next week with built in one. I do find the cables and sticking the sucker thing on and off the windscreen a little bit of a faff, but only tend to use it once a week tops.

So, are built in Audi ones any good, or will I hanker for my Garmin Nuvi ?

Hands down? Does your built in one allow you to select destinations you’ve recently searched for (or where you have notifications for events) with a couple of clicks? It appears some built-in has voice control, but far from all. Or are there advantages and disadvantages?

I’ve already pointed out several times that there is no difference in legality or level of distraction if you have your phone on a mount in easy reach – I’m assuming nobody is using a phone as a satnav whilst holding it in their hand.

I have to admit, I’m not sure what advantages there are to standalone dedicated satnavs, so might opt for built-in over one of those if it wasn’t for the cost aspect.

There may be no difference in ‘legality’, but I know which one will result in a greater likelihood of a copper pulling you if seen to use.

Your evidence for that is?

…I did my own research, and without spending all day on it, the only case I could find of a prosecution involving satnav where the type was specified was this one:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3823515.ece

(I presume the cases not involving accidents don’t get reported – but do they even get penalised?)

Until you find a tunnel with a junction in it…

Anyone care to point to any road tunnels in the UK with a junction in the middle? And any road tunnels long enough to really mess up a phone or stand-alone satnav that wouldn’t do exactly the same to a built-in unit?
As far as size of screen’s concerned, most of the large screen installed units have the display set in the centre of the dash, just below the ventilation vents, those which either sit on the top of the dash as a fixed or movable screen seem to be about the same size as my iP6+, certainly the Megane I had over the weekend had a screen almost exactly the same size, and pretty much the same position I set my phone up, so the bottom of the clamp is touching the top of the dash – that way it’s in my periferal vision so I only have to glance sideways slightly to see the screen. I’ve come across very few cars with installed satnav that has that setup, I really do not like the screen down in the dash, it’s bad enough the aircon on my Octavia sitting down below the radio, with identical flush-fit buttons that force you to look down at it if you need to make any adjustments, having my phone sat with its bottom edge a couple of millimetres above the dash in the centre is ideal, plus the apps update automatically, and I’ve got a choice of five, although I only use two normally, Google maps through the BP app to locate their filling stations, and Navmii, which is the best of the actual dedicated satnav apps I’ve tried, out of Navmii, Here and CoPilot.
That’s for professional, day-to-day use, so far just over 15,000 recorded miles* since September 19, not the occasional weekend jaunt.
*I’ve done a lot more, I didn’t use it for regular straight-forward destinations, but I’ve started to now, because it’s alerted me to heavy congestion on a couple of occasions when I had it already set up, and I used a different app from the beginning of June until September, so probably nearer 20,000 in eight months.

ive already pointed out several times that there is no difference in legality or level of distraction

Whether you say so or not ….My previous companies view was that you get caught using your phone at all while driving pool cars internally or externally and specifically mentioned hands free chatting , music or sat nav apps and it was disciplinary.

They just didn’t want the distraction temptation there.

Anyone care to point to any road tunnels in the UK with a junction in the middle?

a) Even after Brexit I imagine plenty of people will be driving abroad.

b) It’s also affected by tall buildings in cities.

c) My point is such things DON’T mess up built in units because they have access to other sources of information like vehicle speed and steering angle.

That’s for professional, day-to-day use, so far just over 15,000 recorded miles* since September 19, not the occasional weekend jaunt.

Are you trying to make me change my mind or something?

I’ve done well over 100k miles in my two cars – one of which has built in satnav, and one which doesn’t. I’m fairly confident of my preference, and I’ve reported it to the OP as requested. That’s all I can say.

Well it’s a fact – and I’m not sure of the relevance of a company’s illogical policies (assuming they didn’t mind use of built in, or indeed dedicated stand-alone satnav).

hands up everyone who thinks any satnav is useful while in a tunnel

*puts hands up*

I’ve come across plenty. Just have to use ye olde worlde legacy road signs.
Many aren’t tunnels as such, but cut+cover.
Neuchatel, Innsbruck, Leonberg (near Stuttgart), all have motorway exits within the tunnel and/or necessity to get in lane before the tunnel exit.
Or Limehouse tunnel for something a bit more domestic. Blackwall tunnel might have the junction technically outside the confines of the tunnel, but satnav instructions before might be useful.

Oh and my Garmin’s stuck to the screen. At 6ft3, it’s below the level of the bonnet line. Far less distraction there than having to glance at the TV in the middle of the console, although repeater instructions popping up in the dash display can be handy. The head up display on the Peugeot 3008? rental car I had was useless. Had to duck to see that, and it was the most annoying piece of motorised plastic ever (that will no doubt break anyway). Maybe they can be adjusted?

My pick-up has a a display on the dash too – don’t really need the big display on.

Still prefer using the phone though

2017-02-22_11-07-03 by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

2017-02-22_11-06-47 by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

Well it’s a fact – and I’m not sure of the relevance of a company’s illogical policies (assuming they didn’t mind use of built in, or indeed dedicated stand-alone satnav).

your fact may be … but in this h and S gone mad world …. if your phones infront of you in eye line and an urgent business related email pops up(unless you are prone to setting your phone not to display your emails everytime you get in the car) – your more likely to read it/be distracted by it when its there than you are going to be able to read it off your standalone sat nav…..

thats their reasoning against your fact. I see logic in it to be fair ….if nothing else that apparently going by this thread it would really grind folks gears to not be able to use their phone as a sat nav…. 😀

When I test drove a ****** a few years back, the salesman almost derided me for asking about whether it was worth getting the SatNav-specced model. ‘Use your phone, the SatNav is out of date before you get it’.

Having said that, the used Mercedes we got not long after that amusing test drive came with a Becker unit. The maps are out of date but my SO prefers it to Google Maps and Apple Maps. I create great annoyance if we need to swap cars and I don’t move it to the right car.

Both cars show lane notifications and directions in the dash when they have the Becker plugged in. I like this.

If it were real money for a new car I’d not opt for SatNav unless it came as part of a more useful package. I wouldn’t pay over the odds for it as part of a used car deal. And I wouldn’t make it a make or break item. Maps and phones do a good enough job. Phones especially if there’s Bluetooth.

bit confused by all this ‘phones cr@p in tunnels’ yipyap, we were going through plenty last year in spain, the screen automatically changed to ‘night vision’ and still worked perfectly.

it’s bad enough the aircon on my Octavia sitting down below the radio, with identical flush-fit buttons that force you to look down at it if you need to make any adjustments, having my phone sat with its bottom edge a couple of millimetres above the dash in the centre is ideal,

little octavia tip. if you dont want cheap plastic phone holders on the dash, you can lift the little cubbyhole flap on top of the dash and jam a phone in there well enough for it to stay upright. well you can an M8 anyway. i do mine with no extra material needed, but ive always thought that stick a bit of felt or something in there too and itll never move. looks like it was made for the job 😉
like this pic ive just nicked from google…..

little octavia tip. if you dont want cheap plastic phone holders on the dash, you can lift the little cubbyhole flap on top of the dash and jam a phone in there well enough for it to stay upright. well you can an M8 anyway. i do mine with no extra material needed, but ive always thought that stick a bit of felt or something in there too and itll never move. looks like it was made for the job

Might work pretty well with newer Skodas, my ’51 Octy doesn’t have anything like that. A couple of large blobs of blutac will do the job of holding a phone in place under that flap, I reckon.
I’ve just driven a Skoda Yeti back home from Truro, it’s a top end one, even has a heated screen, which I didn’t even know could be had on VAG cars, but it reinforced my preference for using my phone instead of the fitted unit, which is the main infotainment system.
It’s a large screen, but it’s set halfway down the centre console, so using the maps means you absolutely have to look down away from the road ahead, if you want to check map or direction info as an addition to the voice guidance.
I didn’t have the mapping on, I was listening to 6Music, and occasionally checking track info, in the same way that you would if using the mapping, and I found it more than a little unsettling, especially as I was doing 70-odd mph on the M5, which is why I only did it a couple of times.
I honestly wouldn’t be able to bring myself to use it, it’s an ergonomic disaster, forcing the user to take their eyes completely off the road ahead, a major distraction easily on a par with checking Facebook on your phone.
I do get screen updates on my phone when using the satnav, but, I never bother looking at them, they disappear after a few seconds, and I can’t actually read what they say anyway, the text is far too small.
I can read all the main text on my satnav, without much effort, with and without my glasses, and it’s level with the road ahead, and in the centre of the screen, directly over the flap on top of the dash, and is perfectly placed, which is exactly where all satnav units ought to be situated.

A quick tip for anyone who doesn’t feel that they are capable of using a sat nav because it’s positioning takes your eyes off the road – every sat nav I’ve used gives you the turn you need to take and also the road number and town/area you should be heading toward.

Check the sat nav when safe to do so, have some vague idea of when you’ll be approaching the junction, make a mental note of where you are going AND READ THE FLIPPING ROAD SIGNS!

Fair point from a business perspective then – though still not necessarily a good reason not to use a phone if you’re disciplined enough to ignore the notifications. Was using my phone as a satnav this evening as it happens (on a route I know anyway, though I wasn’t quite starting from the usual place so interested in seeing what it reckoned the best route was). Made use of just speaking where I wanted to go with no typing or twiddling knobs required (and I wouldn’t have had a clue what the postcode of the place I was going to is, let alone that of the supermarket I decided to divert to on the way home). Got a few FB notifications pop up which I ignored, though I need to work out how to turn off messenger notifications as that leaves something on the screen. It would be nice if it was possible to disable all notifications automatically when directions are running in maps.

There’s a driving mode on most phones – does that stop notifications?

Don’t seem to have that option, though I think I’ve worked out how to disable messenger pop-up which is the most irritating (I can ignore the rest). If I CBA I might write an Automate script to do it (can trigger it when bluetooth connects to the stereo).

That’s interesting. I didn’t have to write a script to disable any distractions for my built in nav. Must be a plus in its favour… 😉

Someone posted on here the other day about Android Auto. Great app that will prevent distractions. I’ve got mine set up to turn on automatically as soon as my phone picks up the car bluetooth.

i have aeroplane mode on my phone…..

i assume planes have their own built in sat nav as turning that on not only turns off the notifications – wouldnt want a distracted pilot would we – but annoyingly also turns off the nav function…..

i guess their employers insist they use a standalone unit also

😀 😀 😀

I imagine that Google Maps routing you down a road that’s too narrow could be a real problem in a plane.

I’m struggling with the concept that the supreme intelligence of the STW forum hierarchy can’t cope with not checking emails whilst driving, unless they put their phone into some sort of drive/sleep/aeroplane mode. Surely the self-proclaimed gods of the road should be able to handle such a simple task of self-restraint?

I can….But not all of my old work are Stw elite.

Some are the serf class who would be straight on that email.

Do any of you that prefer in-built to using phones/google travel much distance, or encounter much traffic?

Google can’t be beat for avoiding/re-routing round traffic.

Tried using the 2016 Sat Nav in my Ford Ranger a couple of times over the past few days and it didn’t have a clue about the traffic on my route.

This aside, I find in-built navs invariably try and take me on some strange routes that I know aren’t the quickest (even without traffic). When I know better and persistently ignore it telling me to turn round, it eventually succumbs to my route (that Google knew in the first place) and lo-behold, it adjusts it’s arrival time to one that is sooner than it was saying on it’s own route